


Legacy

by moodiful819



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Reality, F/M, Family, Fluff, Post-Finale, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 04:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3367631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moodiful819/pseuds/moodiful819
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kakashi proves to be an over-anxious father and Sakura shows to be the one with all the answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Legacy

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Kakasaku Baby Character Design](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/98588) by xtcetera. 



> Inspired by a character design by xtcetera. “Sumiko” means clear/pure-thinking child since I figured she would be pretty diligent and always want to help people. Was gonna go for Suzume (sparrow to go with the scarecrow-theme), but the coloring scheme was off.
> 
> She’s about 6 or 7 here, I want to say.

It was a day of big changes for Hatake Sumiko. 

It was her first day of the Academy, and with it came all the other responsibilities and expectations of that milestone: a new school, a new start, a new backpack…

"Ouch!"

It was also more painful than she expected.

"Dad, cut it out!" Sumiko complained as her family stood outside the Academy gates. She could feel the other students staring at her—could feel her classmates already making judgments she didn’t want them making. She had wanted to make an impression on the first day, but this was  _not_  it.

Impatiently, she flailed her arms above her head, chasing her father’s hands away from her hair.

For the moment anyway. 

Barely a foot away, Kakashi continued the slight frown under his mask as he surveyed the young girl anxiously straightening her thick, tangled hair.

"It still doesn’t look right," he sighed, reaching forward. "Here, let me try again…"

The shadow of her father’s robe loomed over, consuming her much smaller figure. She wouldn’t say she was nervous at the idea of another one of her father’s “first-day makeover sessions,” but there was still a very decided flinch, a very noticeable frown, and a _very_  strong reluctance as she offered up her silver head and heirloom hitai-ate to her father’s gloved hands.

After what felt like years of struggle, a voice cut across the yard.

"Kakashi, you’re going to be late. Again."

_Salvation._

The sound of her mother’s shoes squeaking across the grass precluded her arrival, drawing Kakashi’s ministrations to a thankful halt.

"Kakashi, you’re already ten minutes late to the opening ceremony and—and—you’re still at it?"

Tugging at her mom’s old headband, Suzume popped her head free, steadying herself on tiny wobbling feet.

"Dad keeps trying to fix your headband. He almost pushed my nose in, mom!"

Her quip was met by the quick, resentful gaze of her father. It was one she knew well because it was one she often used back on him:  _ **"Tattletale."**_

There would be no ice cream for her tonight, but if it meant keeping her nose from looking like Pakkun’s, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

"She wants to wear it like you did when you were her age, but it keeps slipping into her eyes. I was trying to fix it," he said patiently, already back to his former task of wiggling the band down their daughter’s head.

At the fervent wiggling of their own child as he tried to square the band over Sumiko’s forehead, Sakura raised a brow at her former-teacher-turned-husband. “So your idea is to make her wear it like you did?” 

She shook her head as she crossed the lawn and batted her husband’s hands away. “She may look like you, but she isn’t you, Kakashi,” she reminded, gently untying the knot around her child’s head. Watching her old hitai-ate fall into her hands, she stooped down to Sumiko’s level and helped her daughter fix her hair.

"Your dad can be pretty oblivious for a Hokage, huh?" she asked, running a hand through her daughter’s hair in long soothing strokes. The tangles began to fall apart, the strands falling in short smooth rivers except for one section that flipped out to the right, but that was to be expected. True to form, Sumiko had taken her father’s eyes and hair, defiance and all, the same defiance she was showing now as she fought the urge to cry.

"You were just trying to make daddy happy right?"

Sumiko nodded with big fat tears trembling on the edges of her lashes. As much as it had been painful and aggravating, she didn’t want to hurt her father’s feelings. He had just been trying to help, after all.

"Sumiko, sweetie, if wearing it like me isn’t working, and wearing it like how your father did, why don’t you try wearing it the way you want to wear it? Didn’t you try out that one look that you really liked this morning in the mirror?"

Instantly, the silver-haired girl felt her cheeks burn up. She  _had_  liked that style, but she didn’t realize that her mom had remembered that.

Above their heads, the Academy bell rang.

Sumiko reached for the ends of her mother’s old headband and began placing it by her neck. Reaching back, she positioned the metal plate over her throat before stopping, her eyes shyly meeting her mother’s.

"Could you help me tie it, mommy?" They both knew Sumiko could’ve done it herself. She had learned all the basic knot-tying skills when she was four—and was the first one out of all her friends to start wearing shoelaces!—but with her mom always busy at the hospital, it was nice to always steal a few more moments with her.

Sakura smiled. “Of course,” she said and helped tie a knot at the back of her daughter’s neck before pulling back to survey her work. The symbol of Konoha gleamed proudly back at her.

"Beautiful," she told Sumiko softly. "Now, is your nose okay?"

"Yup."

"Are you happy?"

"Yup!" she chirped.

"Do you forgive your father who is best and handsomest father and Hokage in the world?" Kakashi called out from behind them.

Her answer was another bright, chipper “Yup!” followed by a tight hug. Reaching down, Kakashi returned the embrace, lifting her up as he swung her around and planted a flurry of masked kisses on both her cheeks.

The bell tolled again and she was gently deposited on the ground, the swath of fabric slowly floating down behind her.

"Come on, we don’t want you to be late like your daddy!"

"Hey!"

And with a smile and a quick peck on the head from her mother, Sumiko ran inside, the headband beating against her chest like the steady beat of her heart.


End file.
